Regarding the Spiritus
by Cassandra Houston
Summary: This is the unedited and unfinished Regarding the Spiritus, which is the second book in the Liber Severi Trilogy which includes Severus Snape's True Love. Some SLASH
1. Chapter One: New and News

Chapter One: New and News  
  
  
  
Harry Potter took the proffered hand and got to his feet. He brushed off his butt and said, "That was bad, wasn't it?" he said with a grin.  
  
"If I'd meant it, you would be dead." Amethyst Snape replied. But she was grinning. "You have to stop being such a goddamn gentleman."  
  
"I'm sorry?" Harry asked. He caught the towel she threw at him and thought about his performance. Amethyst was teaching him the American-style Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was teaching him to fight and she was teaching him to fight dirty, as she insisted that everyone fought dirty and he'd better be ready for it. He'd done pretty well fighting with Severus (something he'd imagined doing for years), but he was having all sorts of problems fighting Amethyst. She was a woman, and he just couldn't bring himself to fight her as if she were a man. And he had paid for it.  
  
"You sure are." Amethyst said She moped her face with her own towel, turned on her heel and left the room.  
  
Harry followed her through a labyrinth of tunnels. "You are in the Department of Magical Law Inforcement now." Amethyst was saying. "You are going to have to deal with all manner of scum. Some of that scum is bound to be female." She climbed a set of stone steps and emerged in the kitchen of her home. There was a house elf at the sink.  
  
"Water, Sissy," Amethyst said, walking to the sink. She threw cold water on her face and toweled off. She moved over a bit, where there were vegetables from the garden, freshly washed. Amethyst grabbed a green pepper and tore into it like is was a apple.  
  
Sissy brought both Harry and Amethyst water. And they made quick work of it. While Sissy went to refill their glasses, Harry picked up on their conversation. "I'm just not used to fighting women." he said, trying not to think about having to do it. He grabbed a handful of snap peas and started popping them one at a time in his mouth.  
  
"Well, it pays to be prepared. You're a boy scout, you should know that." she said, grinning behind her second glass of water.  
  
"Boy scout?" Harry raised his eyebrows. "That's a bit harsh, isn't it?"  
  
Amethyst shrugged and polished off her green pepper. "Well, you saved the world a fair few times, haven't you?" she grabbed another pepper, which was purple.  
  
"Well," Harry stammered.  
  
"Your modesty is nauseating." Amethyst grumbled.  
  
"Dumb luck." Herry scowled at a head of lettuce, which he picked up and began to rip to shreds.  
  
"Whatever." Amethyst said. "Are you all moved in?"  
  
"Yup." Harry said, relieved in the change of subject. He'd moved from his two room flat to a two bedroom apartment just a few days before.  
  
"Like it?" Amethyst asked. She was winding down, and so was her conversation. She was still getting used to talking to people besides her husband and brother, who walked in just at that moment.  
  
"... his dead body!" Severus was saying, heatedly. He grabbed a carrot off of the counter, kissed his wife and leaned on the counter next to her.  
  
"Whose dead body?" Harry asked, intrigued. He popped some lettuce leaves into his mouth.  
  
Severus leaned forward slightly and looked around his wife's body. "Yours, Potter" he said with his usual evil looking grin.  
  
Harry raised his eyebrows, swallowed and said, "Mine? What about my dead body?"  
  
"This is not how I wanted to start this discussion." Sirius said, rubbing his forehead.  
  
"What discussion?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well, I have heard enough already." Severus said. "So take it out of my house."  
  
Sirius glared at Severus. He walked over to Amethyst and kissed her on the cheek, while reaching behind her and grabbing a cucumber. "Hi sis, bye sis." he said. He looked at Harry. "Comon, I'll tell you on the way to your place." and stalked out the door.  
  
Harry began to follow him, pausing at the door to say goodbye to Amethyst and Severus.  
  
When the door closed behind him, Amethyst turned to Severus and asked. "What is Sirius plotting now?"  
  
Severus grinned a wicked grin. "Draco Malfoy is getting out of Azkaban in a week. Sirius has been assigned as Draco's probation officer. He seems to think it would be a good rehabilitative move to have Draco live with Harry."  
  
Amethysts jaw dropped then she began laughing. "Over Harry's dead body."  
  
Severus laughed with her. "That's what I was saying."  
  
  
  
  
The next morning, Amethyst and Severus arrived at the building where they worked together analyzing and developing potions for the Ministry of Magic. Ron Weasley was already there, fiddling with the coffee maker. He was as red as his hair and he was swearing about Muggle contraptions.  
  
"Good morning, Weasley." Severus said. "Still trying to get that thing to work, I see."  
  
Ron swore again, stood up and pulled out his wand. He conjured three cups of tea. "There!" he said, triumphantly. "Have some tea?" he said, taking one of the cups and waving to the remaining two.  
  
They were finishing up the first cup when Harry and Sirius arrived. Amethyst and Severus watched them closely.  
  
"You two look disappointed." Sirius said, with a grin. "He's agreed. So there!"  
  
Amethyst pouted. "So soon? I was looking forward to at least a week of curse dodging."  
  
Ron was looking from Sirius to Harry. "Agreed to what?"  
  
Harry looked at Ron "When Malfoy gets out of prison, he's moving in with me."  
  
Ron looked stunned. "Malfoy? Draco Malfoy, right?"  
  
"How many Malfoys do you know in prison?" Harry snapped back. "Of course Draco Malfoy."  
  
"Harry," Ron said, sounding confused. "Why in the world would you want to live with Draco Malfoy?"  
  
Harry heaved a huge sigh. "Because." he said, and searched for the words. "Malfoy doesn't have anyone anymore. Not even Crabbe or Goyle or Pansy Parkenson."  
  
"What happened to them?" Ron asked. "They were in Azkaban with him, weren't they?"  
  
"Pansy killed herself." Sirius said, soberly. "Crabbe and Goyle picked fights with the wrong prisoners and were both killed."  
  
Ron said nothing to this. Harry continued. "Well, now that Malfoy's mother and father have," and here he paused a moment, glancing at Amethyst and Severus. "died, he doesn't have anyone. He doesn't even have horrible relatives to live with, like I did."  
  
Ron still looked disbelieving. "Your parents were killed by, well, by him." he said uncomfortably. "Malfoys parents were killed by some Aurors or someone from the Ministry." he shrugged. "It's totally different."  
  
Ron had no idea who had killed Draco's parents. The Ministry of Magic issued a story telling the wizarding community that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were killed resisting attempts from the Ministry to arrest them.  
  
"He needs someone." Harry said. And he raised his hand to stop Ron saying anything more. "He's coming to live with me and that's it." And he changed into his work robes. The emblem of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement emblazoned over his heart.  
  
There was the sound of feet on the stairs. A man and a woman appeared. They stopped and looked at the five wizards for a moment.  
  
"'Mornin'." the man said.   
  
Sirius approached him. "You must be Christopher Starling." he said, offering his hand. He looked at the woman. "But I am sorry to say I have no idea who you might be." his voice had taken on the tone reserved for flirting.  
  
The woman looked at him through brown eyes and allowed her hand to be kissed. Amethyst said. "That would be Taja Waite, from the Salem Institute."  
  
Taja smiled at Sirius. "Formerly of the Salem Institute." she said, in an accent Sirius couldn't place as being anything but American. She turned to Amethyst. "And I ought to kick yo' ass for not picking me up at the airport." she said with half a smile. Her eyes were twinkling.  
  
Amethyst shrugged. "You made it." she said offhandedly. "And you made it on time. A miracle."  
  
"Still a bitch." Taja said, nodding.  
  
"You two know each other?" Sirius said, still apparently captivated by Taja. She was exotic looking. She had skin the color of tea and green eyes. She was short and just a little on the plump side, for her height. Her body made his heart skip a beat.  
  
"We sure do," Taja said, releasing Sirius' hand and walking towards Amethyst. "We both taught at the Salem Institute. I taught Potions."  
  
"Taja, this is Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and my husband, Severus Snape." Amethyst made introductions. "And this," she nodded to Sirius. "Is my brother. The smoothest talker in London."  
  
Taja shook hands with Ron and Harry. Harry wondered at her not making the familiar eye movements. Amethyst caught his puzzlement. "You're no one to her, Harry. In the States, no one knows who you are." she said, after crossing to him and leaning to whisper softly in his ear.  
  
When she got to Severus she paused. "Amethyst told me a little about you." she said, as they shook hands. "You look pretty good for a dead guy."  
  
Severus nodded, but said nothing.  
  
"Let's get you settled in, Taja." Amethyst said. She, Taja and Severus went up the stairs to the laboratory, leaving Harry, Ron and Sirius with Christopher Starling.  
  
"OK, Christopher," Sirius said, turning to the stocky blonde. "Welcome to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's Department of Independent Investigations. We tend to catch the cases no one else in the Ministry wants."  
  
"Or the ones they can't handle." Ron said, picking up a file and waving it. "Cruelty to animals" he snorted. "Cruelty to people is more like it."  
  
"Yea," Harry sniggered. "Someone reported this traveling carnival the Department for the Regulation and Control of Dangerous Creatures when they saw blood on this poor little bunny. We got involved after two of their wizards didn't ever turn up again. Disappeared."  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes. "We investigated and discovered that the cute little bunnies were these things called M'Dais. They are vicious little buggers with retractable horns. They attacked and killed a bunch of the other animals in the carnival then turned on the wizards the Department for the Regulation and Control of Dangerous Creatures. They killed them and ate them. We turned the M'Dais over to the Department for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."  
  
"Who, of course, took all the credit." Ron said, disgusted.  
  
"So who did you piss off so badly you wound up here?" Harry said, and all four men laughed.  
  
"I was in the Department of Magical Reversals." Christopher said. "They have a new head of Department and we didn't quite see eye to eye on things, and well, he sacked me."  
  
Ron looked at Christopher sharply. "The Department of Magical Reversals? That's where Percey works."  
  
"Yup." Christopher said. "I figured you had to be a relative or something. Mister Weasley was none to pleased when he requested a transfer and I was transferred here."  
  
"That's because this is a cool Department." Harry said, grinning. "We get the crap like the case we just told you about. But we also get really interesting ones. Who do you think it was who found Karkoroff?"  
  
Christophers jaw dropped. "But the Aurors -" he began.  
  
"The Aurors couldn't find an egg in a chicken coop." Hissed a voice from the stairs. It was Severus. He was frowning and carrying Amethyst, who was moving feebly in an attempt to free herself.  
  
Sirius jumped off of the desk he was sitting on. "What's the matter?" he demanded.  
  
"I got dizzy, is all." Amethyst said, a bit weekly, still struggling with Severus. "Put me down, Severus, before I curse you."  
  
Severus put her down when he reached the bottom of the stairs. She swayed and was caught before she fell backwards by Taja. Taja helped her sit.  
  
Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Amethyst. "I'm fine." she snapped. "Bloody Hell!"  
  
Taja leaned over her. "Severus is right, girl." she said, low. "You need to go home."  
  
Amethyst turned on her like a snake, and immediately clapped a hand to her spinning head. "Fuck you, Taja. Mind your own goddamn business for once." But she allowed Taja to help her to her feet again, where she was supported by both Taja and Severus.  
  
Taja chuckled. "I am so glad to know ain't changed one fucking bit." she said, as Severus picked her up again.  
  
"We're going home and she is going to bed." Severus said to Sirius. "I know you'll insist on showing up later today, so I'll have Sissy prepare for your arrival." he glanced at Taja. "I know you can handle everything until we get back."  
  
And they were gone.  
  
"He doesn't like you much, does he?" Christopher said to Sirius.  
  
"We love each other like brothers." Sirius said, resuming his place on the desk. "That isn't obvious?"  
  
  
  
Severus laid Amethyst on the bed and began removing her robes. Amethyst did not resist. She was weak and very tired. She allowed Severus to dress her for bed and get her settled.   
  
"Better?" he asked, as he pulled the covers of their bed under her chin. He sat and looked down at her, concern etched all over his face. "You gave me quite the scare."  
  
Amethyst sighed. "It was only a dizzy spell, Severus." she insisted. "Nothing to worry about."  
  
He frowned. "The third fainting spell in as many days." he said. "I'm beginning to worry about you."  
  
Amethyst bit her lip. "I think I know what is wrong with me." she said, quietly.  
  
Severus raised his eyebrows. "Really?" he said. "And what might that be?"  
  
Amethyst sighed. "All right, Potions Master." she said, resignedly. "I want you make a letitia powder and add my blood to it."  
  
Severus stared at her. "Are you sure?" he asked.  
  
"No, but I want to be, Severus." Amethyst snapped. Her look and voice softened. "Please, just do it."  
  
Severus sighed, nodded and left the room. He crossed to his home labratory and began to prepare the powder. He ground a dried cricket, some dried snake skin, powdered pomegranate and mango seed and added the powdered unicorn horn. When he'd achieved an ultrafine powder, he transferred about half of it into a dish and returned to the bedroom with it and a sharp dagger.  
  
Amethyst was dozing, but she opened his eyes when he approached the bed. She held her left hand out to him and he used the dagger to cut onto her thumb. He squeezed the blood from her finger into the dish holding the powder. He took one of his handkerchiefs and stemmed the flow of blood. Amethyst tucked her thumb, complete with the handkerchief under her hand and folded her fingers over all.  
  
They both watched as the powder soaked up the blood. The powder turned from white to blood red as it soaked the blood. "Sleep." Severus commanded. "We have to wait for it to dry anyway." He placed the dish on the bedside cabinet.   
  
Amethyst nodded, already falling asleep.  
  
Severus lay beside her, concerned. Amethysts fainting spells had been worrying him since they began. She was not a weak woman who might be prone to fainting spells. He had taken her at her word when she'd told him it was nothing, but as they continued, he'd become increasingly worried about her. His worry followed him into a restless sleep.  
  
It seemed he opened his eyes immediately, although he could see by the sky outside of their bedroom window that the evening was well underway. The February sky was darkening. He glanced over and saw that Amethyst was also beginning to stir. They woke together ninety percent of the time. He got out of the bed and moved around to the bedside table beside his wife. He looked down into the dish of blood and letitia powder, which had dried as he slept. He gasped, and grabbed up the dish for a closer look.  
  
"Severus?" Amethyst had opened her eyes and was looking at him.  
  
Severus did not respond. He put his hand in his robes and pulled out his wand. He lit the several candles in the room against the oncoming gloom. Again, he peered into the dish. "It is green." he said simply.  
  
He heard Amethyst inhale sharply. She sat up and looked at him as he turned his head to face her. "What?"  
  
He sat beside her on the bed and as she looked into the dish, he said, his voice a bit shaky. "It's turned green, Amethyst. You are pregnant."  



	2. Chapter Two: The Return Of Draco Malfoy

Chapter Two: The Return Of Draco Malfoy  
  
  
Harry took a deep breath and opened the door. Sirius stood there with Draco Malfoy. Malfoy looked all at once scared, angry and sullen.  
  
Sirius pushed Draco forward gently. "Go on." he said.  
  
Draco stepped inside. Sirius followed with a small duffel bag. Harry closed the door and the two of them all stood and stared at each other.  
  
"Well," Draco spoke first. "Listen Potter. I wanted to say thanks for letting me kip here."  
  
Harry nodded. "No problem. I needed help with the rent anyway."  
  
Sirius looked closely at the two young men. "I guess I'd better leave you two to get reaquainted." he said, tossing the duffel on the sofa and turning to leave.  
  
"Wait," Draco said quickly. "You'll be sure and get me that information?"  
  
Sirius turned back to face Draco. "Yes." he said. "And I'll get back to you in a couple of days to make sure you really want to know it."  
  
Draco nodded. "Fine by me." he said.  
  
Sirius turned to go again. Harry asked, quickly.. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"  
  
Sirius turned to face Harry, this time. "I can't." he said. "I am off to see Amethyst, remember."  
  
Harry sighed. "Yes, of course I remember." he said resignedly. "Tell her I hope she's feeling better."  
  
Sirius smiled. "If I can get that overgrown bat of a brother-in-law to let me in, I sure will."  
  
And he was gone.  
  
Harry and Draco stood and stared at each other. Harry cleared his throat and said, "Let me show you your room."  
  
Draco grabbed the bag off of the sofa and followed Harry down a narrow hall. Harry pointed to a door at the end of the hall. "Lav." he said, standing between two closed doors. He turned right and opened that door. "Here's yours." he said, stepping in. Draco followed. There was a bed and a dresser. "Not much furniture, but I figured you'd eventually fill it up yourself."  
  
Draco nodded. "Thanks, Potter." he said, as he threw his bag on the neatly made bed.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Draco appeared freshly showered and changed. He wore black sweat pants but nothing else. He found Harry in the kitchen, bending over the stove.  
  
"Smells good." Draco said, making Harry jump.  
  
"You just about scared the shit out of me, Malfoy!" Harry snapped.  
  
"Sorry." he said, and he looked it. "Must be the bare feet."  
  
Harry took a deep breath. "No problem. I just thought you might not be interested in dinner." he waved a spoon towards the stove. "Made plenty, though. I hope you like Italian."  
  
Draco nodded and looked around the kitchen. "Where are the dishes. I'll set the table."  
  
Harry stared. "You know how to set a table?"  
  
Draco laughed. "Honestly, no." he said. "But I thought I may as well try to pull my weight around here."  
  
Harry tossed the spoon back in the pot and gave Draco a tour of the kitchen. "The formal dining area is there." he said, pointing to the table along the kitchen wall. "Probably not what your used to but -"  
  
Draco held up a hand. "I've been in Azkaban for a year and a half, Potter. It's been a long time since I've had to wear my dress robes to anything."  
  
They managed to set the table and begin their meal without making each other too uncomfortable. Harry tried to start a conversation. "I don't mean to be nosy, but what information is Sirius getting for you?"  
  
Draco looked at Harry for a long time. "He said he was going to tell me who it was killed my parents." he finally said.  
  
Harry choked but recovered quickly. "He is?' he managed.  
  
Draco looked at him oddly. "Yea." he said. "I want to shake their hand, whoever they are."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Listen, Potter. My parents were not nice people. They got what they deserved, if the rumors I heard in prison are any indication." Draco said. "I can't tell you how glad I am to be rid of them."  
  
Harry drank from his bottle of ale. Slowly he nodded. "I suppose if someone killed the Dursleys, I wouldn't have minded much myself, come to think on it."  
  
"You may not believe it, but I do hope Professor A is OK." Draco said after another minutes silence.  
  
Harry had to think for a second who Professor A was. Then it hit him. "Ohhh, you mean Amethyst." he said. "I guess she will be, she's been a little under the weather, but won't let anyone treat her like she's sick. She's a stubborn lady."  
  
"Just like her husband." Draco said. "I never thought I would be seeing Professor Snape again." he said.  
  
"Well, you won't right away, if Amethyst is sick." Harry said. "You'll probably be working with Taja for the first few days."  
  
Part of Draco's probation was working with the very person he'd committed a crime against, Amethyst Snape.  
  
Harry yawned and said sleepily. "I'm sorry, Malfoy. I'm exhausted. Don't mean to be rude."  
  
Draco grinned. "Go to bed, Potter. I'll clean up here. Be nice to have a little something to do."  
  
So Harry went to bed, marvelling that he and Draco hadn't gotten into a fight their first night living together.  
  
  
  
Severus answered the door, ignoring Sissy's tutting at him. When he saw Sirius he said. "Your later than I thought you'd be."  
  
"I had to go get Draco from Azkaban, remember. Even in my car it took a couple of hours. He's all settled in with Harry by now, I'm sure." Sirius said, coming in.  
  
"They'll probably kill each other by morning." Severus said, chuckling. "They were forever at each others throats at school."  
  
"How's Amethyst." Sirius asked as the two men stood in the front hall.  
  
"She's trying to get out of bed. We figured out what was causing her fainting and I've fixed her a potion to keep it happening again." Severus said.  
  
"So what's wrong with her?" Sirius asked, the concern in his voice obvious.  
  
"Come with me, Sirius." Seveus said, starting up the stairs.  
  
Sissy was standing on Amethyst, trying to keep her down. "Master said stay put!" she was shouting.  
  
"Get off of me before I get mad, Sissy." Amethyst was growling.  
  
"I see your feeling better." Sirius said, walking over and kissing his sister on the cheek.  
  
"You may go, Sissy." Severus told the house elf, who promptly hopped down and left the room.  
  
"I am, but Severus won't let me out of bed except to go to the bathroom." she complained. "And I suppose I should be grateful he lets me do that."  
  
"I'll have you up and working like a house elf tomorrow." Severus said, smiling. "Tonight you stay in bed." he rolled his eyes. "Rest, woman. It won't kill you, honest."  
  
"So what's with the fainting?" Sirius said. "Severus won't tell me anything and I'm having jitters thinking something is seriously wrong with you."  
  
Amethyst smiled brightly. "Nothing serious, Sirius." she said. "I'm pregnant."  
  
Sirius sat on the edge of the bed. "Excuse me?"  
  
"Pregnant." Amethyst and Severus said together.  
  
Sirius closed his eyes and opened them again. "Pregnant?" he asked.  
  
Amethyst took her brothers hand. "You are going to be a uncle."  
  
"I am?" Sirius said. He took a great breath. "How?"  
  
"I am not explaining sex to you, Black." Severus said. "I think you know if you bother thinking about it for a minute. You can't possible be that stupid."  
  
This seemed to being Sirius back to earth a bit. He glared at Severus and hugged his sister very tightly. "OK, then. When?"  
  
"Late August. Early September maybe." Amethyst said.  
  
Sirius nodded. "And you'll be coming back to the office, when?"  
  
"In the morning." Amethyst said quickly.  
  
"Good." Said Sirius. "Because Draco will be working with you starting tomorrow. Which reminds me, he was telling me he wants to shake the hands of the people involved in his parents deaths."  
  
Severus nodded, "I thought he might." he said. "I know I would have."  
  
"So it would be alright to tell him who was responsible?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I suppose he has the right to know." Amethyst said, yawning. "Now get out, I'm exhausted again." and she settled down and was asleep in no time flat.  
  
  
  
Draco gave up on getting back to sleep and sat up in his bed. The sun was not quite out. He threw his legs off the edge of the bed and ruffled his blonde hair. From his bed, he looked out onto the perfect Saturday morning. He shook his head. His room had a view of the street. Potters had a view of the alley. Draco still had a hard time understanding Potter's treatment of him. He was being kind. Very kind. Perhaps that had something to do with his just getting out of prison, but somehow Draco doubted it. He was suspicious by his very nature., and had suspected something was up from the very beginning.  
  
He and Harry had sat up quite late the night before. Draco was not really surprised to find out that Harry was, for the most part, a homebody. When he did go out, he tended to stay away from wizarding establishments. Draco was also a bit of a homebody, regardless of having been cooped up in Azkaban for eighteen months. His parents never let him get too far away from him, and now he was half scared that he'd get into some sort of trouble, and that was the last thing he wanted. The abandonment of Azkaban by the Dementors had done nothing to cheer up the prison, in Draco's opinion. He didn't want to go back there.  
  
He and Harry had talked Most of the night. Being nine o'clock in the morning meant Draco had managed to get about five hours of sleep. Draco had no idea how similar his life and Harry's life had been. Unhappy home lives for both of them. Harry's family had never abused him to the extent Draco's had, but it had still been there. Harry's trust issues stemmed from his fame, Draco's from his parents training. Death Eaters were not supposed to trust anyone, not even each other.  
  
Draco sighed and got off the bed. He went, took a shower and dressed. He padded, barefoot, into the kitchen and started messing with the pots and pans. He was just filling a glass with water when he heard someone behind him. He turned to see Harry, in a pair of sweats, standing and watching him. His hair was in a worse state than usual and his eyes were at half-mast.   
  
"Didn't mean to wake you, Potter." Draco apologized.  
  
"Coffee." was all Harry could make come out of his mouth.  
  
"Coffee?" Draco repeatedly, a bit stupidly.  
  
Harry dragged himself into the kitchen and rummaged under the countertops. He reappeared with a machine Draco had seen only at work, some Muggle contraption. Harry moved around the kitchen still half-conscious, getting what looked to Draco to be a paper bowl, and a bag of beans from the freezer. He fished another Muggle contraption out from under the cabinet where he'd gotten the first and poured some of the beans into the lid of the second contraption. A whirring noise startled Draco. Harry then dumped the now pulverized beans into the paper bowl, which he put into another bowl which slid neatly into the larger contraption. He removed a glass decanter from under the main part of the contraption, elbowed Draco aside and filled the decanter with water. He poured the water into the top of the larger contraption, put the decanter back where it had been, pushed a button and glared at it until it started making sort of a bubbling noise.  
  
He turned to Draco and said, again. "Coffee." His eyes had gone from half mast to three-quarters-mast. "I don't know what it is, but this morning I need coffee. Probably Amethyst and Taja's doing. Didin't used to be able to stand the stuff."  
  
Draco had noticed that there was an awful lot of the very stuff filling the decanter at their place of work. Only Amethyst and Taja ever drank any of it. Draco now remembered it was called coffee.  
  
"How can you drink that stuff." Draco asked, looking at the pot with disgust.  
  
Harry found a cup and filled it with coffee. "Amethyst got me to try some about a year ago and I have been using it to wake up when I need to ever since. It's addicting, this stuff." His eyes were now open. He looked around the kitchen like he was just now seeing it. "You're making breakfast? You can eat after last night?"  
  
Draco found a bowl, then pulled out his wand and the pot began filling with porridge. "Takes a lot to mess with my appetite." he said, as he found a spoon and sat down with Harry and his coffee.  
  
Harry watched him eat, his own stomach churning. "You'll be getting your questions answered today." he said.  
  
Draco looked up. "Yes." he drawled. "But I bet you could have saved me a lot of grief and told me all about it days ago."  
  
Harry tried to look innocent. "What?" he said.  
  
"You know, don't you? Draco said, "You know who killed my parents."  
  
Harry opened his mouth to lie and found himself saying, instead, "Yes, I do."  
  
Draco simply looked at him. "Your easy to read, Potter. Not too easy, but easy nonetheless." he finished his breakfast, washed the bowl out and put it in a drainer. He then turned to face Harry. "I won't ask you, though." he said, grinning. "I can wait another couple of hours." and he left the kitchen.  
  
Harry remained in the kitchen where he finished his coffee. He drank coffee until he finished the whole pot. He prepared another pot except didn't start the coffee maker. He'd do that later. He thought he might need more coffee today. He thought he might need a drink before noon.  
  
Harry had managed to shower and dress and was laying on the sofa enjoying the quiet when the knock came. He dragged himself up and answered the door. Sirius, Severus and Amethyst walked in. Sirius looked as usual, but both Severus and Amethyst looked especially serious.  
  
"Is he ready?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I'll go get him." Harry said and walked down the hall to Draco's closed door. He knocked. When Draco answered he simply said. "They're here."  
  
Draco nodded and followed Harry out to the sitting room. He saw Amethyst and Severus and he closed his eyes. "You?" he asked. He opened his eyes and looked at Amethyst. "It can't have been you."  
  
Amethyst simply looked at Draco. "I assure you, it was." she walked up to him. "I can also assure you it was not done because of my personal overfondness of you, Mister Malfoy."  
  
Draco bit his bottom lip and nodded slowly. He offered Amethyst his hand and she took it. He then shook hands with Severus. "I know you didn't do any of this for me, but I thank you anyway." and he turned to Harry. "No wonder you didn't tell me anything. I would have called you a liar to your face."  
  
Harry shrugged. "I didn't want them to do it, actually." he said. "They went ahead and did it anyway."  
  
Draco stared at Harry. "Why wouldn't you want them to kill my parents?" he asked. "They deserved worse than they got."  
  
Harry sighed, exasperated. "You sound like them." he waved at the other wizards in the room. "I still don't like what they did. It just doesn't seem right."  
  
"And yet you did not turn any of us in." Severus said, quietly.  
  
Harry sighed again. "Partly because I didn't want my godfather in any trouble. He's had enough, thanks. Partly because, well, I guess I am as bad as you all are. I just think maybe prison would have been better, is all."  
  
"We have had this conversation before." Amethyst said. "You are different. Not like us. For that, even my brother is, what? More kindhearted than either myself or Severus. It is in your blood, I wouldn't doubt. That which makes you a Griffindor through and through. Griffindors differ from Slytherins in so few ways, didn't you know that Harry?"  
  
Harry sat down and considered this. He looked at Sirius. "A Gryffindor won't go to the lengths that a Slytherin will?"  
  
Sirius looked very thoughtful. "A Gryffindor is incapable of going to the lengths that a Slytherin will. Especially if those lengths go against their moral code." he glanced at his sister. "Morality is not a Slytherin trait."  
  
Severus snorted. "Morality," he said "complicates things."  
  
Sirius smiled. "You would think so, Severus." and his eyes flicked towards his sister. "I would dare say my sister agrees."  
  
Amethyst allowed herself half a smile. "Do you remember all the times I would do something and Father would go ballistic on me?" she asked, looking directly across the room and into her brothers eyes. "Father would say to me 'Why?' and I would reply 'Because, Father'. He never understood that. Why I would do something just because it needed to be done. Father hated me at those moments. That's why he called me a Slytherin bitch before he died, isn't it?"  
  
Sirius slowly nodded, as if slowly coming to an understanding. "You struggled so in Griffindor House, didn't you? There was a code of moral conduct there that you never did understand. You could never understand how sometimes things just weren't to be done." he walked over to his sister. "That's why you fought me so hard over him," and he nodded towards Severus. "Because he was what you wanted and you were bound and determined to do what you wanted and the rest of us be damned."  
  
Amethyst nodded. "I think there is a very thin line between becoming a Griffindor and becoming a Slytherin. A Slytherin requires more cunning. More immorality, if you will, than a Griffindor does. But Griffindors must be capable of doing what needs to be done and by any means necessary. Or you would not have accompanied us to the Malfoys."  
  
Sirius was shaking his head. "No. I don't believe that. I believe that I am not just our father's son, but our mother's also." he said, while Amethyst nodded. "And young Harry here is all Griffindor. The only one in this room."  
  
Malfoy broke the moment by saying, "My condolences, Potter."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. "You make it sound wrong, Sirius." he said.  
  
"Not wrong, just different." Sirius said. "Different is never wrong."  



	3. Chapter Three: Woes

Chapter Three: Woes  
  
  
"It's the middle of May and we aren't any closer to figuring this out than we were a month ago!" Sirius was raging. "They'll be trying to hit us next."  
  
There was maniac on the loose. He or she was using magic to destroy potions research facilities all around London. Harry, Ron, Christopher and Sirius had been working almost non-stop trying to solve the mystery. Three wizards and twenty Muggles had been killed so far and the entire Ministry of Magic seemed to be working overtime casting memory charms on Muggles who were witnesses. The Muggle press was reporting a mad bomber on the loose. Their bomb squad was also working tirelessly trying to find evidence. However they were stumped because they could not find any trace of a bomb.  
  
There was a single potions research facility left and it was above the raging Sirius. He figured it would be hit last because it was part of the Ministry of Magic and so a gigantic finale to the maniacs reign of terror. But he also figured it would be the biggest bomb yet, probably taking the entire building down.   
  
"They can't get in here now." Ron said, confidently. "There are too many security measures in place."  
  
They had secured the building with charms and even a few curses.  
  
"Maybe." Severus said. He was playing the pessimist, as usual. "But if it is a Muggle -"  
  
"No Mug could cause this destruction." Taja said, for the millionth time. "It has to be a wizard or a witch. And a pretty fucked in the head one, too."  
  
But there was nothing that Draco, Taja, Amethyst or Severus could do about it, besides what they had done, charm everything they could think of to secure their Labratory and offices.  
  
"Damn, I can't think." Sirius said, running his fingers through his hair.  
  
"Imagine that." said Harry dryly. "You haven't eaten or slept in three days."  
  
They had all been working like maniacs and it was agreed that a good lunch away was the ticket. Amethyst insisted Severus join them. "Taja, Draco and I can handle everything here." she said. "But bring me back something. No, two somethings." she said, rubbing her pregnant middle.  
  
Severus left, reluctantly, with the rest for Diagon Alley.  
  
They were all knocked down in the explosion, which happened just as they reached the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
  
  
"NOOOOOO!"  
  
"...... dead ......."  
  
".... enraged ......... do our job, Severus!"  
  
"Won't ...... good ...... Sirius."  
  
" ..... Experimental Charms is examining ..."  
  
"Ron ....... report."  
  
"........ sorry Severus."  
  
"She'll need you ..... wakes."  
  
"Drink ..... love."  
  
"........ make us .........."  
  
"...... charms ....... them. They ......"  
  
"........ back ...... needs you ....."  
  
"..... annihilated ......"  
  
"...... taken care ........"  
  
"Do not ............ Amethyst."  
  
Amethyst drifted in and out of consciousness for four days. She heard a word here and a word there, but could never find the strength to open her eyes to see who was speaking. She felt her hand being held. Sometimes it was both hands, like now. She must try to open her eyes.  
  
Amethyst took as deep a breath a she could bear and tried to open her eyes. She moaned with the effort, but she was able to force her eyes open. Before them were Severus and Sirius, looking at her with more relief in their faces than she had ever seen anywhere before.  
  
"Welcome back." they said as one, making Amethyst smile.  
  
"Hi." she managed. It was very difficult to speak, she realized. However, she was a stubborn woman with a million questions. "Pain." was the first thing out of her mouth, however.  
  
Sirius held a cup to her lips and she drank down something very bitter. The pain eased, a little.  
  
Amethyst took a deep breath now that she felt a bit better. "Where am I?" she asked, each word coming at a snails pace.  
  
"Saint Mongo's." Sirius said.  
  
"There was an explosion." Severus told her.  
  
Somehow, Amethyst could not get the word 'explosion' around her tongue. She settled on "When?"  
  
Severus and Sirius looked at each other, then Sirius said, "Four days ago."  
  
"Four?" Amethysts mine reeled. Four days? She tried to remember. "Taja? Draco?" she tried to get up, but was pushed gently back by two powerful hands.  
  
"They'll live." Severus said, quietly. "You got the worst of it."  
  
Amethyst was struck so suddenly by a thought that she sat bolt upright, but the pain, Sirius and Severus kept her lying down. "The baby." she said.  
  
Neither Sirius or Severus said anything. They did not have to. Their expressions said everything.  
  
Amethyst closed her eyes, moaning. Severus gathered her in his arms and held her as she shook with rage and grief and cried herself to sleep.  
  
When she woke, she saw that Sirius was asleep in a chair beside her. Severus' head was on her belly. But he raised it the moment she opened her eyes. She was feeling much more clear headed now.  
  
"I am sorry, love." she managed to say.  
  
"All I care about is you." he replied, putting one of his long fingers on her lips to stem her words. "You are my reason for being."  
  
Amethyst closed her eyes and took a breath. She opened them when she heard the door open and close. Christopher, Harry and Ron appeared over Severus' shoulder.  
  
She gave a weak smile to their collective greeting. They all gathered around her, waking up Sirius in the process.  
  
"Well, who will tell this lovely story?" Amethyst asked. "I can't remember a damn thing past telling Severus to get me lunch."  
  
Harry began. "It's a bit of a mystery. We had barely made it to the Leaky Cauldron when there was this huge explosion. It took out the whole floor of the laboratory and most of our office below it." he said. "We ran back and did our best to get you out of the rubble. We got you all here as fast as we could."  
  
"The first thing we had to do was convince the Doublemint Twins here not to destroy the body." Ron said, frowning at Sirius and Severus. "They went mad, I tell you. Turns out the bomber was using the Imperius Curse on Muggles. It took all of us and two orderlies to hold them back and convince them to stay here with you, Taja and Draco."  
  
Severus and Sirius said nothing. They wore identical masks, making their faces unreadable.  
  
"Ron and Christopher took the body of the bomber to the Department of Experimental Charms. They've been experimenting on the brain. They were able to get the information on the bomber from his brain, somehow." Harry said.  
  
"Anyway, we came back here to get a report on your condition." Christopher said, his eyes flicking from Sirius to Severus. He seemed unsure about continuing.  
  
"She knows." Sirius said. "It's all right."  
  
Christopher sighed. "That's when we found out about, well, you know." he said lamely. "We gave our report and had to have the orderlies help us hold them both back again. This time, we lost. They took off out of here like the place was burning to the ground. I told Ron and Harry to stay here and went with them."  
  
"The wizard who did it was some guy from Iraq. He was trying to make some political point about potions versus spells or some shit. Anyway," and here Christopher ran his fingers through his short hair. "I did everything I could, but these two just." he paused and almost whispered. "They beat the guy most to death then took out their wands and annihilated the guy." he ran his broad hand down his face.  
  
Amethyst looked at Harry. "Harry?" she said. "Are you all right?"  
  
Harry thought carefully a moment. "I think I would have done the same, if I'd been in their shoes."  
  
Amethysts eyebrows rose ever so slightly, but she said nothing.  
  
Ron cleared his throat. "They came back here and we had a quick meeting. We told the Department of Magical Law Enforcement the guy annihilated himself when they cornered him."  
  
Amethyst nodded, but said nothing.  
  
"Draco and Taja woke up yesterday." Harry said. "I guess you could say we're making sure we get out stories straight."  
  
Again, Amethyst nodded. She listened for another five minutes about how the explosion had completely ruined their offices. Somehow, no Muggles, except for the bomber, had been hurt. But the office building was being checked by Muggle engineers to make sure it was habitable.  
  
"We're probably going to have to move someplace else." Sirius said.  
  
The door to the room opened and there was a gasp. "I should have known I would find you all in here!" a voice shouted. Amethyst saw a nurse holding a tray of potion. She was glaring. "Out!" she demanded. "Out, everyone but the immediate family! OUT!"  
  
Harry, Ron and Christopher said hurried good byes and scrambled out of the room. The nurse brought the potion to Amethyst. "Drink this and sleep." she ordered.  
  
Amethyst, who was already feeling much better asked. "What is it?"  
  
The nurse gave an exasperated sigh. "It is a healing potion. You've been needing one a day since you got here. You broke most of your ribs and both legs. Your shoulder was dislocated. You had a skull fracture. And, well, and the rest. This will finish your regime. Your husband here," and she and Severus glared daggers at each other. "Has been feeding you the potions. These two have been a pain in my side for four days. I must admit, I will be glad to see you discharged, Missus Snape."  
  
Amethyst took the potion and drank it down, showing the nurse the empty bottle. The nurse was satisfied and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.  
  
Amethyst was now alone with Sirius and Severus. "Don't tell me you two worked together again?" she asked, her voice full of sarcasm.  
  
Sirius and Severus looked at each other then looked at her.  
  
"Shit happens." They said together.  



	4. Chapter Four: Picking up the pieces

Chapter Four: Picking up the pieces  
  
  
Amethyst, Taja and Draco all got out of the hospital two days later. They were released with strict instructions to take it easy for one week.  
  
Sirius took Taja home. She had taken the lightest beating of all of them, but she was still horribly sore. Sirius convinced her to let him stay.  
  
"Taja, I will not lie and say I am not attracted to you." he said. "But right now I am more the concerned friend than wolf at your door."  
  
Taja smiled. "Well, you can stay, but you better behave or I'll have to wup yo' ass."  
  
Sirius backed up in mild shock. "Don't hurt me too badly." he laughed. "Amethyst told me about you American wizards."  
  
Taja chuckled. "Amethyst." she said, shaking her head. "She is some piece of work. She and I were probably best friends, but I don't know that the girl has friends, know what I mean?"  
  
Sirius nodded. "A lot of that is my fault. I overprotected her most of her life." and he paused, unsure.  
  
"I didn't know she had a brother until I got here." Taja said. "She hardly ever talked about where she was from, or her past or nuthin'. I knew she was from England someplace. Lots of people thought she might be running from some trouble here."  
  
Sirius shook his head. "I sent her there." he admitted. "To keep her away from Severus, truth be told."  
  
"How you gon' do that?" she said. "She was grown."  
  
Sirius turned a bit red. He'd noticed that Taja's accent changed dramatically when she started getting upset. He didn't know exactly what that meant, but there was something about it.  
  
"Taja, it's hard to explain. I fucked up big time with both of them. I lost my mind and lost my sister for a long time. The idea of losing her in that explosion -" his voice faded.  
  
Taja lounged on her couch while Sirius sat in a chair near her. "Amethyst came with me one summer. My last living relative had been killed. A Mug. Cousin. Shot in a drive-by. She shed a tear at the funeral. That told me a lot. And she didn't even seem to notice she was the only white person there. I don't know about here, but that means something in America. She and I were both sort of beat up at Salem. Her because she was foreign and me because I was the only mixed sistah in the whole school, teacher or student."  
  
Taja patted his hand. "I knew Amethyst knew death like I did, or the pain of it anyhow. She only told me about Severus once of twice. She never let him go in her heart, if you know what I mean? She told me she would never love another" and Taja laughed. "Wouldn't let nobody get nowheres near her. I was the closest friend she had and I can't even say we was all that close." she looked carefully at Sirius. "That girl got something else, having two men do for her like you and Severus did. I don't know nobody do that for me."  
  
Sirius grinned. "You must have plenty of blokes trying to talk you up, a doll like you."  
  
Taja grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."  
  
"Good, because it was one." Sirius said.  
  
"You an OK dude, Sirius." Taja said. "We can hang."  
  
Sirius grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment." he said.  
  
"Good, because it was one." Taja said.  
  
  
  
Harry got Draco home and fed him. Nothing effected Draco's appetite and he swore he was starving. Harry sat him in their kitchen and they talked while Harry cooked an old fashioned Muggle meal.  
  
Draco watched him going from refrigerator to stove. "Magic is quicker, you know." he smirked.  
  
Harry threw him a softball sized pepper which was electric blue. "Eat that, it's from Amethysts garden. It'll tide you over." he said. "Don't worry, I know how to cook."  
  
"That was pretty fucked up what happened to Amethyst." Draco said so low Harry almost missed it.  
  
"Yea." Harry agreed. "But Severus and Sirius got revenge for her, didn't they?"  
  
Draco raised his eyebrows. "Yes, they did." he said slowly. "But somehow I didn't think you'd think that way."  
  
Harry paused a moment, a large knife poised over a pile of stew beef. "Well, the asshole deserved what he got, didn't he?" and he began chopping up the beef and throwing it into a pot with a little oil. "He could have killed you all."  
  
Draco nodded, then grinned. "Were you worried about me, Potter?"  
  
Harry bit his lip. "I was worried about all of you. Severus wouldn't leave Amethyst. Sirius was going between Amethyst and Taja. I kept an eye on you."  
  
Draco remembered that it was Harry's face he saw when he woke up. He'd been touched, really, to see him there. "That was the first time I ever woke up in the hospital with anyone waiting for me to wake up." he said. He took a large bite out of the pepper.  
  
Harry was chopping onions and looked over his shoulder quickly. "The first time?" he said, bewildered. "How many times have you been in the hospital?"  
  
Draco shrugged. "At least once a year for almost as long as I can remember." he said. "Father had a temper, remember?"  
  
Harry chopped the onions with vigor and threw them into the pot. "Your father put you in the hospital once a year?" he said, hardly believing.  
  
"About that." Draco said. "That summer after you beat us for the cup, I went in twice."  
  
Harry threw the last onion into the pot and threw in some flour and spices. "Your Dad did that because you lost the cup?" he said, feeling suddenly guilty.  
  
"Well, yea." Draco said. "I'm not the Quidditch player you are. Nowhere near as talented. I knew it, Father knew it."  
  
"But he beat you for it?" Harry said, his voice rising.  
  
Draco straightened up a bit. "Listen, Potter. Don't go getting all guilty on me. My father didn't need much of an excuse to kick my ass all over Malfoy Manor. If it weren't you it would have been my grades or something." he said.  
  
Harry sniffed. "Onoins make your eyes water." he said, turning and beginning to chop up a few carrots and turnips.  
  
Draco grinned again, "Don't get me wrong, Potter. I'm touched, I really am."  
  
Harry threw the carrots and turnips into the pot and added some apple cider. "Yea, right" he said, and he began hurrying the stew up with his wand.  
  
He heard Draco moving around in his chair. "Really, Potter. I am touched. No one cares about what happens to me and here you are letting me into your home and watching over me in the hospital and now."  
  
Harry watched the stew bubbling. He waited a few minutes and tasted it. "Done." he said and dished up two plates. He joined Draco at the table and they began eating.  
  
"Your right." Draco said. "You can cook."  
  
They ate in silence, and when their plates were clean, Draco got up and took the plates to the sink. Harry heard the water and turned to Draco. "You're supposed to be taking it easy."  
  
Draco didn't stop. "Washing a few dishes without magic won't kill me, Potter." he said.  
  
Harry didn't argue. "Listen, Malfoy. This is not just my place. It's yours too."  
  
He saw Malfoy stiffen. "OK, Potter."  
  
Harry figured he may as well continue. "I have to admit, when Sirius first suggested we live together I was like, 'No Way!'. But I had to admit that we had enough in common that it just might work out."  
  
Draco was scrubbing out the pot. "We do have a little in common, at that." he admitted.  
  
Harry said, "Both from fucked up families, if nothing else."  
  
Draco laughed. "Wanna play my family was more fucked up than your was?" he asked.  
  
"I was raised in a cupboard under a flight of stairs." Harry said, "It was my bedroom."  
  
Draco had finished the last of the dishes and turned to face Harry, wiping his hands. "OK, you win that one." he said.  
  
When they turned in for the night two hours later, they both had to admit that their families seemed to even each other out.  
  
  
  
Severus opened his eyes. It was the deep dark of the dead of night. There was no moon and the bedchamber was very dark. He could feel that he was alone. He closed his eyes and connected with his wife.  
  
She was looking at the darkness. There were no clouds, no stars, no moon. He opened his eyes and took a guess at where she was. He got out of bed and threw on a pair of pants. He left their bedchamber and walked through the dark house and down the stairs. He left through their frond door and walked across their grounds.   
  
He found her standing on their original clearing. Her hair was loose and it just touched the grass. Her head was bent towards the dark and empty sky. He approached her, aware that she stood where they once picnicked years and years ago. He reached out silently and gathered her hair on his hands. He gently lifted it over her shoulders. She was wearing his shirt, which ballooned on her more than on him even. It reached to her knees. He dropped her hair on her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.  
  
Still looking at the empty sky, she said, "You located me."  
  
Severus said nothing. He just held her. He looked up into the sky with her.  
  
"I feel so -" she began, but Severus shushed her.  
  
"It was not meant to be." he whispered, but he trembled ever so slightly.  
  
He felt her as she drew a great shuddering breath and let it out. "You are right." she whispered. "But it cold have been worse. Far worse." and she lifted her arms to caress his.   
  
"I almost lost you." he whispered. "I don't know that I would have been able to bear it."  
  
"You do not hate me." it was not a question.  
  
"Never."  
  
Amethyst drew another deep breath. "You were torn. At the hospital."  
  
"I stayed with you until I knew where to find him." Severus said. "They tried to stop us. Both of us. But I would not be denied my revenge."  
  
"You both annihilated him."  
  
"Yes."  
  
Amethyst nodded.  
  
Severus turned Amethyst around to face him. "I avenged both of you." he said, looking deep into her eyes.  
  
Amethyst eyes snapped. "I knew you would." she said.  
  
They remained wrapped in each others arms until the sun rose.  
  
  
  
Ron and Christopher spent the week fielding questions from the Ministry of Magic. They ignored owls and reporters from the newspapers. The papers were saying that a group called the Taipan was responsible for the death of the bomber. The Taipan were allegedly a group of rouge wizards that dispensed their own brand of justice.  
  
"What rubbish!" Ron exclaimed in disgust as he folded the newspaper and tucked it under his arm. He and Christopher were also looking for alternative accommodations for their offices. They were waiting at a warehouse now for the owner. Both were dressed in Muggle suits.  
  
"Well, it is feasible that the Taipan annihilated that fool." Christopher said. "You should have seen them, Ron. I have never seen such rage. He was almost dead before they ever pulled their wands on him."  
  
Ron nodded. "Each alone is a force to be reckoned with." he said. "I have seen them both in a towering rage and never hope to again." he sighed. "That Iraqi fucked with the wrong wizards, no doubt about it."  
  
They ceased their conversation as a fat man in an ill-fitting suit approached them. They chatted with him while they toured the building, then convinced him that he wanted to sell it to them for six hundred pounds. The man handed them the deed and walked away convinced he had made a perfect sale.  
  
"My wife thinks it is wrong to cheat the Muggles like that." Ron said as he pocketed the deed to the property. "Says we should buy it right and proper." he imitated Hermione. "They all have the money. Between Sirius, Amethyst, Severus and Harry they could buy half of London. They're just not being fair!"  
  
Christopher laughed. He'd met Hermione several times and liked her and their triplet boys very much. "Is Hermione campaigning for Muggle real estate agents now?" he asked.  
  
"You would think triplet toddlers would keep her busy, wouldn't you?" Ron said, chuckling. "But, no. She's already planning on taking Amethyst out for a day of shopping in Diagon Alley as soon as she is ready."  
  
"That might be a while." Christopher mused.  
  
Ron was shaking his head. "Amethyst will deal with it and put it away sharpish." he said. "She isn't one to dwell on tragedy, is she? She has been dealing with it forever, it seems. Thought her lover was dead for eighteen years. Dealt with it."  
  
"Or made it look like she was dealing with it." Christopher said. "Such an odd couple, her and Severus."  
  
Ron was shaking his head again. "No way!" he said. "I knew Snape - Severus - at Hogwarts. He was my Potions instructor. The man is downright handsome now compared to those days. He got worse and worse with every year and no one ever knew it was because he thought she was dead and was pining."  
  
They walked into the warehouse, which was quite dilapidated. Ron went to the second floor and Christopher took the first floor. They waved their wands and the place began to put itself right.  
  
They met just outside the place and together charmed the place against Muggles. The place would, to a Muggle, continue to look like the wreck of a building it was, before they began renovations.  
  
"Anyway," Ron said, picking up the conversation again. "Amethyst is plain old cheerful compared with Severus, and she is nothing to fuck with. As dangerous as a poisonous spider." and he shuddered at the thought. "Those two are meant to be together. Birds of a feather, I tell you."  
  
The two men spent the rest of the week preparing the new warehouse for its occupants. They send owls at the end of seven days with directions.  



	5. Chapter Five: Girls And Boys

Chapter Five: Girls And Boys  
  
"You'll do all right without them?" Hermione asked Severus for the third time.  
  
"Why are you still here?" he hissed, sounding highly annoyed.  
  
It was a month later. Amethyst took a week to recover and three weeks to help move into the warehouse and reorganize the place. Hermione was taking both Amethyst and Taja out for the day.  
  
They got into Amethysts 1962 AC Cobra 289 and took off. Amethyst drove like a Muggle and they had plenty of time to chat.  
  
"Taja, you have to fess up." Amethyst said, pulling to a stop at a traffic light. "What are you doing with my brother?"  
  
"Sirius?" Hermione said, aghast. She got most of her information from Ron, who meant well, but could be very dense about office romances.  
  
Taja shrugged. "Nothin. Yet. He's nice and all that, but -"  
  
"His reputation?" Hermione offered.  
  
Taja nodded. "That too. Plus I'm not sure he knows what he could be getting himself into."  
  
Hermione was confused, so Amethyst explained. "Some people in the States don't like seeing couples like Sirius and Taja. I don't know about here, really. I haven't been out much since I've been back in the country."  
  
"You and Severus should go out more." Hermione said.  
  
"Truth be told, we don't want to, even if we could. And our years of isolation -" Amethyst grinned. "We've just gotten used to entertaining ourselves at home."  
  
Hermione turned scarlet and Taja roared with laughter. "Your married, Hermione. Your the mother of triplets. You should not be turning red." she said.  
  
Hermione pursed her lips. "I can't help it. I still think of Severus as Professor Snape and I just can't picture him -" she couldn't finish her sentence.  
  
Amethyst laughed too. "Honestly, Hermione. You disappoint me. You can't possibly tell me you don't get up to anything kinky with that husband of yours."  
  
Taja was shaking her head. "Yea, Hermione. Ron is just plain drop dead sexy."  
  
"I'm sure I can make up some extra fruit syrups when I make more." Amethyst said and almost got into an accident for laughing so hard at the expression on Hermione's face.  
  
"And I know I have some extra silk ties lying around." Taja guffawed, wiping her eyes.  
  
Hermione sputtered, "What do you two get into?"  
  
Amethyst still laughed. "We get into a great many things. You forget that we are still making up for the time we lost."  
  
Hermione was still blushing furiously. "Well, I never thought." she began.  
  
Taja was struggling to get herself under control. "Honestly girl," she said, looking at Hermione. "You ain't doin a damn thing for the reputation of British women."  
  
Hermione looked shocked again while Amethyst laughed so hard she almost ran an elderly couple over. "Well, just because Ron and I don't get into all sorts of," she searched for a word. "Wierd stuff."  
  
"Oh, hell, ain't nothin wierd about sex." Taja said waving the statement away with her hand.  
  
"Well, if it ever comes up, Hermione, Severus and I sometimes use this wonderful wakefullness potion. I will be more than happy to have him make for you two. Hell, I'll make it for you myself!" Amethyst volunteered, still laughing hard.  
  
Hermione tried to change the subject. "What about Christopher?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, he's a lot like Sirius, that one." Amethyst said, and Taja nodded, thoughtfully. "He can have it his own way with just about any skirt comes his way."  
  
"He and Sirius do hang a lot." Taja sighed.  
  
"That they do." Amethyst said. "All the time."  
  
Hermione said. "But they are so nice." she sounded a bit shocked.  
  
Taja rolled her eyes. "Nice ain't got nuthin to do wit nuthin when he comes to men."  
  
"I wouldn't know about that," Amethyst said. "Sirius and Christopher are nice enough and both of them are drop dead gorgeous. Even I have to admit that."  
  
"What about Harry and Draco?" Hermione said. "They aren't bad looking at all."  
  
Amethyst chuckled. "Them too."  
  
"I think it's kinda fun watching Draco and Ron go at it." Taja said. "Those two sure do hate each other, don't they?"  
  
Hermione nodded. "They've been like that since they met on the school train." she said. "It's not as bad as it was. Harry and Ron seem to be drifting apart, with the triplets and Draco moving in with Harry and all."  
  
"Maybe Draco is trying to be nicer." Taja said.  
  
Amethyst bit her lip. "Maybe. Prison does seem to have changed him. Maybe Harry's influence too. They may even come out of this friends." She shook her head. "Those boys are too young." she said. "A witch could get arrested just thinking about shagging that."  
  
"Speak for yourself." Taja said and the women burst into laughter again.  
  
"I'll bet Hermione could tell us about it." Amethyst said, turning a corner.  
  
"About what? Harry?" Hermione said. "I never did. We've always been just friends."  
  
Taja snorted. "Your lying."  
  
"I am not!" Hermione said. "Harry and I have always been good friends. He's always been the perfect gentleman."  
  
"Typical." Amethyst said, magicking herself a parking place in front of the Leaky Cauldron. "That would have been something worth listening to."  
  
The ladies got out of the car and entered the Leaky Cauldron. Before they entered, Amethyst and Taja paused to look down the street to where a demolition team had left a pile of rubble where their building once stood.  
  
"Comon, Amethyst," Taja said, quietly. "Let's go."  
  
They went through to Diagon Alley where they walked along the streets watching and being watched. Hermione tried to duck into a wizarding toy shop, but Taja pulled her back. "This day is for us." she said and led her instead into an robes shop, where they looked at robes and cloaks. Amethyst bought herself a set of shimmering amethyst robes.  
  
They stopped in the Aureum Jewlery Imporium for where Hermione bought herself a beautiful silver necklace, Taja found two pair of golden earrings and Amethyst found a platinum broach shaped like a snake.  
  
They stopped in the Prandium for lunch. They had soft mead, marigold custard, tiger prawns, toad in the hole, toffee pudding, peanut soup, chicken with lemon grass, and crescent cakes.   
  
"Ok, Amethyst," Taja said, looking at Amethyst closely. "I'm tired of beating around the bush here. How are you, really?"  
  
Amethyst sighed. "I was hoping we could avoid this feminine ritual of nosiness." she said. "But I'm fine, really."  
  
Taja peered into Amethysts eyes. "Plan on trying again?"  
  
Amethyst shook her head. "We weren't trying the first time. And even if we did, the chances of my being caught in another mad bomber explosion are pretty slim, don't you think?"  
  
"Is Severus alright?" Hermione asked, quietly.  
  
"Oh for crying out loud!" Amethyst said. "We're both fine. I have recovered and we would really appreciate it if you all would stop treating us as if -" she stopped and took a deep breath. "We lost the child. It's over. Severus and I have talked it out between the two of us and worked it out. The person responsible has paid and life can go on." she looked at the two women with her. "Got it?"  
  
Hermione looked as if she would have liked to say something more, but Taja patted Amethyst on the arm and said "You go girl. Get back on the horse, so to speak." which made Amethyst laugh so hard she almost choked on her tea.  
  
"Exactly." Amethyst said. She looked over at Hermione. "It was not meant to be, Hermione. I know you probably expect me to turn on the waterworks and get all hysterical over the miscarriage, but it just isn't going to happen. I have shed my tears and now it's time to rejoin the living. I am not living with some overemphasized sense of guilt of what could have been. I don't work that way and you know it."  
  
Hermione nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "I just." and she burst into tears.  
  
Amethyst and Taja exchanged looks. "Hermione." they said together.  
  
Amethyst figured it out first. "By Jove, I bet she's knocked up again." and Hermione responded by crying harder than ever.  
  
Taja raised her eyebrows quizzically. "But, Hermione, that's wonderful." she said casting a sidelong glance at Amethyst. "Isn't it?"  
  
Hermione nodded and blew her nose.  
  
Amethyst laughed. "Hermione, think about it this way." she said, and she began waving her arms dramatically. "Life out of the jaws of tragedy and chaos. You love that shit!"  
  
Hermione smiled, then laughed along with Amethyst and Taja. "I guess I do, don't I?"  
  
The three women laughed together.  
  
  
  
Harry, Ron, Draco and Christopher were sorting through boxes. The files for their departments had all been mixed up and needed to be sorted through by hand. Severus and Sirius delegated the work to their juniors.  
  
Harry nudged Ron. "I was looking at Hermione earlier, mate." he said, with half a grin. "She seems to be putting on a bit of weight."  
  
Ron turned red. "She's pregnant." he said.  
  
Christopher and Draco looked up from their box. "Congratulations Ron. Again." Christopher said, smiling. "That'll make four, right?"  
  
"Or six." Draco said with something more along the lines of a sneer.  
  
Ron glared at him. He'd never reconciled himself to Draco's and Harrys new friendship. "Just means I'm doing it right." he said, cooly.  
  
Harry quickly stepped in. "Hermione must be really happy. She looks great." he said.  
  
Ron nodded. "I think so." he said, still glaring at Draco.  
  
"I don't know about pregnant women." Christopher was saying. "Mood swings and cravings. Must be worse than just being married."  
  
"There's nothing wrong with being married." Ron said. "I like it fine."  
  
"Yea, but your lucky." Harry said. "You have the love of a wonderful lady. Hermione is great. And you've had a thing for her since forever."  
  
Ron shrugged. "There was always something about her." he said. "Drove me crazy. Still does, come to think about it."  
  
Christopher chuckled. "Isn't that what women are supposed to do? Old ball and chain and all that rot? I don't know that getting married is worth it. Awful lot to go through just to have it off, isn't it?"  
  
Harry was nodding. "But Hermione is really pretty." he said.  
  
"Well, no offense, mate," Christopher said, "But not as dishy as that Taja."  
  
"Taja?" Harry, Ron and Draco said together.  
  
"Yea." Christopher said. "She's one exotic looking dish." he was nodding. "For that matter, so is that Amethyst."  
  
"What about Amethyst." said a voice behind them. Sirius was walking toward them, with Severus close behind.  
  
Christopher opened and closed his mouth several times while the other three young men sniggered. "We were just admiring the beauty of the ladies this morning, mate."  
  
Sirius was wearing a crooked smile. "And you are saying that Taja and Amethyst are pretty exotic looking dishes?"  
  
Christopher took a deep breath. "I know Amethyst is your sister. And your wife." he said, looking over Sirius shoulder to Severus. "But you have to admit -"  
  
Sirius looked behind him to Severus and they both smiled. "Yes, we know." Severus said, with half a grin. "She still turns heads after twenty years."  
  
Sirius nodded. "You heard how I tried to keep the guys away from her." he said. "I'm still protective of my sister."  
  
Christopher nodded. "I know. I saw." he said. "I didn't mean anything by it. I definitely don't want you two after me."  
  
Sirius and Severus laughed. "Listen, I don't think we are going to kill someone just for looking at Amethyst." Sirius said.  
  
Severus said, smoothly. "There would be far too many people to kill if we did that." but the eyes on Christopher were cold. It seemed he found the challenge fascinating, however.  
  
"And to Taja," Sirius said. "You don't actually think she would fall for you over me, do you?"  
  
"She's too young for you." Christopher said, waspishly.  
  
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "It takes an older man to appreciate a younger woman." he countered, equally as waspish.  
  
Harry, Ron and Draco all watched this with interest. Severus watched this with amusement.   
  
"Oh joy." Severus said, dryly. "Another lovers triangle. I thought the days of those were over when I left Hogwarts." and he turned and left, taking the stairs at the far end back up to his laboratory.   
  
Christopher flinched. "Lovers triangle?"  
  
Harry laughed. "He's probably talking about all the rumors about me and Hermione and Ron and Hermione."  
  
"One or two people said Draco here had a thing for Hermione, too." Ron said, thoughtfully, looking at Draco with something along the lines of triumph.  
  
"If I did, I wasn't thinking relationship." Draco drawled. "Get a piece and go."  
  
Harry grabbed Ron and Christopher grabbed Draco before they could get to each other.  
  
"He was probably talking about us when we were at school." Sirius said, getting in between Ron and Draco, who were still struggling to get to each other.  
  
Harry looked over Ron's struggling shoulder. "You mean he really did have a thing for my Mum?" Harry was taken a bit by surprise at this. He'd heard the rumors, of course. Even Ron stopped struggling, although he continued to glare daggers at Draco.  
  
"No, no, no." Sirius said. "He never showed much interest in girls. They said he and I were after the same girl for a while, but no one could figure out which girl it was."  
  
"Amethyst." Harry, Ron and Draco said simultaneously.  
  
"Well, that was the girl, but it wasn't what the rumor mongers thought." Sirius said. "All they knew was Severus Snape and I were cursing each other in the halls on a daily basis."  
  
Christopher let Draco go and said. "All over a woman?"  
  
"Yup," Sirius said. "That's what they'll do to you."  
  
They managed to sort the files without any more discussion.  



	6. Chapter Six: The Testing of a Theory

Chapter Six: The Testing of a Theory  
  
  
Harry sat, naked, on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. He had a headache. Not like he used to get, just a headache. He remembered the pensive from so many years ago and wished for one now. It felt like he had a million different thoughts going through his head. That he'd had that dream a second time. After so many years. He heaved a great sigh as he decided he may as well put some of his theories to the test.   
  
He stood, threw on a pair of jeans and left his bedroom. He crossed the hallway and knocked on the closed door.  
  
"Come in, Potter." the drawling voice said.  
  
Draco was lying in bed, wrapped in a towel, fresh from the shower. He held the latest copy of Twentieth Century Quidditch open over him. It was dark and the candles around the room shimmered off of Draco's wet hair.  
  
Harry leaned into the room and asked, "Do you have a headache cure?"  
  
Draco looked over at him and saw him for the first time. He sat up and closed the book. He looked concerned. "Yea." he said, slowly. "Migraine?"  
  
"No." Harry said irritably. "Just have a headache."  
  
Draco put the book aside and went over to his desk, where he'd set up a little work area. He scanned the shelf above it and reached for a small bottle of white powder. He turned to find that Harry had gone to his bed and sat where he'd been.  
  
Draco got some water from the kitchen and returned to find Potter now laying on his bed, reading Twentieth Century Quidditch. He measured the powders and stirred it with his finger. Holding out the glass he said. "Sit up and drink this."  
  
As Harry did what he was told, Draco returned the powders to their shelf. Once done, he turned and Saw Harry sitting on the edge of his bed, staring in the now empty glass with fascination.  
  
"It's gone." Harry said, sounding mystified.  
  
"Of course it's gone." Draco said. "You wanted a headache cure and I gave you one."  
  
"But that was fast." Harry said, looking over at Draco. "Never knew faster. Did you make this?"  
  
Draco walked over, took the glass from Harry and put it on his bedside cabinet. "Worked on it with Snape." he said. He walked around his bed and lay down.  
  
"Which one?" Harry asked, turning to face Draco. He now had a foot on the floor and his leg was bent in front of him, his left foot hooked behind his right knee.  
  
"Both of them, actually." Draco said, his eyes closed. "Those two have a hundred formulas for every kind of pain you can imagine." a slow smile spread across his face. "Those two must get up to some pretty dangerous shit. Guess I shouldn't be surprised knowing ol' Severus, should I?"  
  
"I guess not." Harry said. He pursed his lips. "Can I ask you something, Malfoy?"  
  
"Sure, Potter." Draco drawled, sounding half asleep.  
  
"Do you have a thing for Hermione?" he asked.  
  
Draco's eyes flew open. "Gods, no!" he exclaimed. "Well, back at school I did, but mostly that was just to get her away from you and Weasley. She was interesting sport."  
  
"Sport?" Harry said.  
  
Draco closed his eyes again. "I never got anywhere. She was always with you and Weasley. I never got the chance to really get her alone. Probably a good thing, in hindsight. It wouldn't have been very nice for her." he sighed. "Abject humiliation. That was the plan, at least."  
  
"But she was my best friend!" Harry said, alarmed.  
  
Draco opened one eye and looked at Harry. "Yes." he said, and it sounded to Harry that Draco sounded sad. "Hurt you through her." He closed his eye and bit his lip. "I was one sick fuck back then."  
  
"You had plenty of girls. Pansy." Harry said, feeling another headache beginning.  
  
"Pansy was nothing but a bit of spare for me." Draco said. "I'd go to her when there wasn't much else available. Sex is a great way to relieve frustrations and, believe me, I was a very frustrated son-of-a-bitch in school." he bit his lip again. He was feeling a lot more comfortable with Harry now. "And it wasn't just girls, either. I'd fuck just about anything that would move."  
  
Harry bit his own lip. He wasn't sure what to say. He'd avoided winding up with Sirius' reputation, but just barely. Once Ron and Hermione finally pared off, Harry was left alone a bit more often than he liked. He'd used his fame to get under more than one skirt.  
  
"Sex for attention." Harry mumbled.  
  
Draco snorted. "I have heard people sometimes have sex with people who care about them." he said. "Sounds like a good fantasy."  
  
"Pansy cared about you." Harry surmised aloud.  
  
Draco snorted again. "She was after the Malfoy money. She would have married me if I would have had her. She would have regretted it for the rest of her miserable life. She put up with me and my father having at her in the hopes that she would get in the family."  
  
Harry's head reeled. "You and your father?"  
  
"Father liked sex. Mother wasn't enough. Maids, the wives and girlfriends of his fellow Death Eaters, whoever he could con or blackmail into it." Draco covered his already closed eyes with his forearm. "Father and I shared more than one of my pieces of fluff."  
  
Harry said nothing, just looked at Draco with his mouth open a little. So far most of his theories had proven themselves true, and his headache was getting worse.  
  
Draco took a shuddering breath. "Since I seem to be on some sort of honesty kick." he said, eyes still closed and covered. "You'll never guess at my wildest fantasies."  
  
Harry thought he might know, but he shrugged. "I thought it was Hermione." he said, truthfully. "I thought maybe Professor Snape. He always seemed to care about you so much."  
  
Draco uncovered and opened his eyes. "Snape?" he said, as if he couldn't believe it. "Severus Snape was kind to me because we were kindred spirits. His father used to beat him like a house elf all the time too."  
  
Harry hadn't known about Severus' home life, but he guessed at it a long time ago. "Crabbe? Goyle? Flint?" he ventured.  
  
"Fluff. Fluff. More fluff." Draco said, chuckling. "But I had them all." he'd closed his eyes again, settling himself into his pillow.  
  
Harry swallowed. "Ron?" he said, playing one of his last cards.  
  
Draco just laughed. He opened his eyes and got up. He went back to the shelf with the headache powders and shook some into his open hand. He walked to Harry. He licked half of the powder off of his palm. He held the rest out to Harry. "For your own headache." he said. "Water makes it less bitter, but it can be taken just like it is."  
  
Harry turned at the waist and took Draco's hand. He licked the powder off of Draco's hand and was somehow unsurprised at the shudder he felt in Draco's hand.  
  
Draco dropped his hand and walked around the bed, laying down on his back and crossing his arms behind his head before closing his eyes again.  
  
Harry unhooked his foot from his knee and lay on his side beside Draco. He supported his head under his hand and looked at Draco's silver-blonde hair.  
  
"I had a dream about you." Harry said softly.  
  
"Really?" Draco said, not even flinching. "Do tell."  
  
"I was in Divination." Harry said. "I was forever falling asleep in there. And I was always having wierd ass dreams in there. Dreams that would ultimately come true."  
  
"Mmmmm." Draco hummed.  
  
"Had one which came true, so I remember thinking this one might too." Harry went on. He closed his eyes. "Anyway. This was back in my Seventh year, just before final exams and leaving school. I was in this room. Talking to you. We were flatmates, like we are now. I can't quote it word for word, but we had a very similar conversation to the one we've been having this evening." Harry fell silent.  
  
"And?" Draco prompted.  
  
"You were telling me that you had been attracted to me in school and that you didn't dare tell anyone. Because of who I was. Because of who you were." Harry said slowly. "So I am going to have to make my last guess." and he paused here, opening his eyes and searching Draco's closed face. "Me. Harry Potter."  
  
Draco didn't move. He hitched another sigh and nodded, once. Then he froze again, his eyes still closed.  
  
Harry took a deep breath of his own and let it out in a rush. He leaned over and placed his lips against Draco Malfoys'. For a moment Draco did not respond. Then he returned the kiss. Their mouths opened and their tongues explored each other for almost a full minute.  
  
When they parted, Harry looked down at Draco Malfoy. His eyes were still closed. They opened and Harry found himself looking into those grey eyes, somehow not as cold as he remembered them.  
  
"I'm too dark for you, Potter." Draco said, not smiling. His face was a mask.  
  
"Your rehabilitated." Harry said, softly, searching Draco's grey eyes. In the second before Draco wiped even his eyes of emotion, Harry thought he saw something. Hope?  
  
"Maybe." Draco said. "I'm different, anyway. Not good. Different."  
  
"Different isn't wrong." Harry said, and he kissed Draco again. Harry felt Draco's hand on the back of his head. Great passion was exchanged in this kiss.  
  
Harry placed his hand on Draco's chest and felt the small bit of chest hair as he moved his hand down to the belly. He lifted his head from Draco's and kissed the hollow of his throat. Draco sighed deeply. Harry kissed the neck of his former nemesis and worked his way, kissing lightly, to Draco's chest. His hand, in the meantime, had loosened the towel around Draco's waist and found Draco's manhood, half hard already.  
  
Harry squeezed Draco gently and Draco responded either to that or to Harry licking his nipples, Harry wasn't sure which. Harry worked Draco with his hand while his tongue worked itself further down Draco's body. Harry noted the only slightly darker pubic hair when he moved his hand and took Draco into his mouth. He heard Draco gasp. Gently, using his tongue, his teeth and a hand on both Draco's shaft and his balls, Harry manipulated Draco Malfoy. He smiled inwardly as he sucked, squeezed and fiddled listening to Draco's moans.  
  
Harry swallowed everything Draco gave him. When he was done, he kissed Draco's tip and kissed his way back up Draco's body, where they again kissed deeply and passionately.  
  
Breaking from the kiss, Draco looked at Harry with awe. "Never." He gasped. "No one has ever made me cum like that -" but Harry silenced him with a finger to the lips.  
  
"You trust me, Draco Malfoy." Harry whispered. "No one has ever because you never trusted anyone enough to let go."  
  
Draco considered this and broke into a weak grin. "Trust." he said, as if he'd never heard the word before. He looked long into Harry's green eyes before he said. "I thought I was supposed to be the aggressive one."  
  
They laughed together.  
  
A owl flew into the open door, carrying a note. Harry recognized the owl as one of the ones belonging to the Snapes. Draco took it's note, and the owl took off.  
  
"Isn't that owl Severus'?" Harry asked, frowning slightly.  
  
"It's called Atrox." Draco said absently. He was looking at the note. Frowning he said. "Shit! The Taipan! I forgot all about it." and he sat up. He stood, his knees buckling a moment before he found sure footing. He went to the wardrobe and found a pair of jeans and a shirt, which he came back and sat on the bed before putting his legs into.  
  
Harry sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the note Draco had dropped. It read, simply;  
  
  
Midnight  
  
  
He looked up to find Draco standing and facing him, his shirt open. "I have to go." he said. "I wish I didn't, but I have to go. I can't tell you anything besides that. Yet."  
  
Drago ran a finger along Harry's jaw-line, then kissed him lightly. "We'll have to continue this some other time." he said with a mischievous smile.  
  
He disappeared.  



	7. Chapter Seven: The Taipan

Chapter Seven: The Taipan  
  
  
Draco appeared in the Snapes' sitting room to find himself not only in the company of Severus and Amethyst Snape, but Sirius Black as well.  
  
"I thought you might have forgotten." Severus said. "I'm glad you opted to be on time."  
  
Lying to Severus Snape was ill-advised. "I got distracted." he said. Not a lie, not the truth. He might get away with it.  
  
Severus just looked at him for a long moment. "You know why you're here?" he eventually asked.  
  
"Yes," said Draco slowly. "The Taipan." he said.   
  
Amethyst was pacing. "A taipan is a snake." she said. "A very deadly snake. Perhaps the deadliest snake known to man." she stopped to look at Draco. "The Taipan is a group of wizards. The deadliest wizards in Britain, possibly."  
  
Draco suddenly understood. "I thought I was on probation." he said, looking at his probation officer. "I thought I was on your shit list." he said, looking at Amethyst.  
  
Sirius smiled, "I won't report you to your probation officer, I promise."  
  
Amethyst looked at Draco. "You were a shitty kid, from what I hear. You lost your damn mind kidnapping me. However," and here she paused and smiled. "You have a lot of guts. And you are tough." she said.  
  
"It was Amethyst who suggested we recruit you to the Taipan." Severus told Draco.  
  
Draco sighed. "The Taipan." he said.  
  
Amethyst looked at him very carefully. She walked up to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "I will talk to him alone." she said as she led him from her home. Neither Sirius nor Severus said anything or tried to stop them.  
  
Amethyst led him away from the house into the darkness. She did not speak as she walked, but she kept her arm around him. They crossed a narrow brook and kept walking. After a five minute walk, Amethyst stopped and turned Draco to face her. She held him by the shoulders and Draco could see her eyes in the starlight. She was looking at him, curiously. She laughed and released him. She walked away until she was about five feet from him.  
  
"I am going to tell you a few things no one knows, except for Severus, of course." she said, her back to him. "When I was fourteen, Severus made love to me for the first time. It was in this clearing where we fell in love, as a matter of fact. Well, here and Dungeon Ten at Hogwarts."  
  
Draco said nothing, unsure where this was going.  
  
"It was here that he showed me the Dark Mark when he got it burned into him." she continued. "He had feared that I would stop loving him because of it." she turned to face him. "Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard?"  
  
Again, Draco said nothing, but his heart suddenly dropped into his stomach.  
  
Amethyst walked up to him. She was close enough to touch him, if she cared to. She did not. Instead she said, softly. "I have been watching you ever since you got out of prison, Mister Malfoy. At first because I did not know if you could be trusted and you would have been the last serious threat to Harry Potter left after I poisoned your parents."  
  
Draco's jaw dropped.  
  
"But you have been freed by your father's death it would appear. And you and Harry Potter have become more than friends or I miss my guess." she said, locking her violet eyes with his grey ones. "If you haven't yet, it is near."  
  
Draco nodded, still not trusting himself to speak.  
  
"Your greatest fear is that you cannot possibly be loved by the likes of Harry Potter, am I right?" Amethyst said, eyes still locked.  
  
Draco again nodded, unable to look away.  
  
Amethyst smiled. "Draco, I have known only two people who would have appeared, on the surface anyway, to be more incompatible. Would you care to hazard a guess?"  
  
Draco took in a soft breath. "You and Severus would be my guess." he said, beginning to relax.  
  
Amethyst nodded. "Very good." she said. "Severus and I both, at times, thought the worst of what people would think. For us it was simply the age old assumption that no Slytherin could possibly love a Griffindor. We knew what we would face if word got out. My brother alone went so far as to convince us each that the other was dead in an attempt to keep us apart." she broke the eye contact and Draco felt like he'd ben physically released. Amethyst stepped back one step. "You face a greater challenge. Are you up to it?"  
  
Draco nodded. "I think I am."  
  
Amethyst smiled. "He will not hate you if you become Taipan. We are not the Death Eaters. We are the protectors, if you will. The Death Eaters will be reborn, I have no doubt. Reborn under another name. But this time there will be Taipan to counter them. These new Death Eaters will not have anyone like Lord Voldemort, at least not in the beginning. They may not even target Harry Potter, although they will hate him. The powers that were given the Aurors have been revoked. The Death Eaters we may have overlooked will take advantage of this." here she paused and searched the sky. "Will you become one of us, Draco Malfoy?"  
  
Draco thought to himself only a moment before responding. "Yes."  
  
Amethyst gave him a dazzling smile. "Good, very good." and she clapped him on the shoulder and began leading him back to the house. "And I would advise you tell Harry about it. Honesty from the beginning. Take down your shields. He will understand better than you think he will."  
  
Draco nodded, but his heart was scared.  
  
Draco Malfoy joined the Taipan that night  
  
  
  
Harry lay, now naked, in his own bed hours later thinking of the very strange way he'd been left. Midnight. The Taipan. Taipan. He remembered hearing about them, but could not remember what. Either Amethyst or Severus had sent for Draco just before Midnight and Draco, no doubt thoroughly distracted, had forgotten and was forced to leave rather hastily. He frowned to himself. The Taipan. And then it hit him! He remembered. The Taipan had been blamed for the deaths of the Malfoys. But Harry knew that it had been Amethyst and Severus, with Sirius creating a distraction who had killed the Malfoys. He propped himself up on his elbows. Had they been one in the same? But Amethyst hadn't been back in Britain when the Taipan began getting noticed. Severus? And what did they want with Draco?  
  
For Harry could not deny his feelings for Draco. The stirring began the first night and the more he and Draco talked, the deeper his feelings grew. And he had reason to believe that the same was true for Draco.  
  
Harry collapsed on the bed and closed his eyes. He hoped he could sleep for the adrenaline.  
  
Harry awoke with an incredible hard on, which was being tended to by Draco, who had apparently come home while Harry slept. Harry barely noticed that it was the deep dark of the middle of the night. Harry tried to speak, but pleasure allowed him only moans. When he'd spent himself and Draco came up to kiss him, Harry returned it with a passion he never felt possible. It seemed that he and Draco had another thing in common. Neither of them had ever cum in anothers mouth. Until tonight.  
  
"Didn't mean to wake you, Potter. Sorry." Draco drawled, as Harry moved over a little to accommodate him in the king sized bed. In adulthood both men were about the same height and weight and they both silently thought they fit each other wonderfully.  
  
Harry snorted a laugh. "Liar." he said, breathlessly, now belly to belly with Draco.  
  
"Yea, well." Draco said. He looked into Harry's eyes. "I need to talk to you." he said.  
  
"About how you left me?" Harry said. "What time is it, anyway."  
  
"About half two." Draco said. He sighed. "This is difficult. Do you trust me, Potter?" he asked, running a hand along Harry's arm.  
  
"Obviously I do." Harry said.  
  
Draco pursed his lips in the darkness. Nodded. "I'll be right back." he said and jumped out of bed. Harry heard him walk across the hall, rummage through something and walk back. He hopped back in the bed and said, "See this?" He was holding a small flask.  
  
"Yes." Harry said. "What is it, truth serum?" he laughed.  
  
"That's exactly what it is, Potter." Draco said. "I am still not sure I won't lie to you, just out of nerves." and he drank half the bottle.  
  
Harry gaped at him, then made up his own mind. He grabbed the bottle and drank it dry.  
  
"What'd ya do that for?" Draco demanded.  
  
"If we're going to be honest, we may as well go all the way." Harry said.  
  
Draco looked at him as if he thought Harry may have lost his mind. Draco lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling and felt the light feeling the truth serum produced. "OK, then." he said. "We're stuck like this probably until dawn, so don't ask me anything you don't want the answer to."  
  
"Do you love me, Malfoy?"  
  
Draco turned his head and looked at Harry. "Yes." he said slowly and looked amazed by his own answer. "Well, it works. I tried my level best to lie to you."  
  
Harry laughed. "Well, let me tell you that I love you too. It's been getting stronger since the night you moved in here and we got to talking."  
  
Draco nodded. "Well, you might change your mind after you hear what I have to say." he said, so grimly Harry braced himself for the worst.  
  
Draco looked at the ceiling for a long moment. "Have you ever heard of the Taipan?" he asked.  
  
"They are apparently the ones who took credit for your parents death." Harry said, laying his head on Draco's chest.  
  
"They killed them, all right." said Draco, putting his arm around Harry and tousling the already mussed hair. "And so you know already some of the members."  
  
Harry exhaled. "Severus, Amethyst and Sirius."  
  
"Albus Dumbledore started the Taipan a few months before the Dark Lord finally fell. They brought dissension to the ranks, which made the rest of the job so much easier. Remus Lupin, Severus Snape and Sirius Black were it's only members until Snape brought his wife in." he told Harry, repeating all he'd been told during his meeting. "There were no other members. They have worked to discover as many people working alongside the Dark Side as they can and deal with them as they see fit." he felt Harry tense. "They do not always kill, Potter. I was asked to make sure you knew this when I told you what has happened."  
  
"You joined the Taipan." Harry said, dully.  
  
Harry felt Draco nod. Harry lifted himself up and looked into Draco's eyes. "Why?" Harry asked, mystified.  
  
Draco sighed and looked around the room, as if the answer was somehow on top of a dresser. "I have been a part of the Dark Side since my fathers foul sperm hit my mothers pitiful egg." he finally said. "I have seen what they can do. What they are capable of. I have participated in some of it. Potter, murder was a kindness with Death Eaters. They tore apart lives without drawing blood. They built people up and tore them down without even a second thought. The only thing that saved me from getting the Dark Mark burned into me was that Father wanted me to be able to act, and I couldn't do too much under Dumbledores nose. I even sabotaged my Seventh year to avoid it."  
  
Harry did not interrupt because he knew Draco had to get this off of his chest. When Draco continued he said, "I was still looking for approval from my father. That's why I kidnapped Amethyst. I wanted her to know that I was a great and powerful Malfoy." He laughed. "And she kicked my ass damn near into the middle of next week."  
  
Harry smiled, but said nothing. "I figured Karma or some shit had to do with getting Sirius Black as my probation officer. And I just knew it was his cruelty that gave him the idea to have me stay with you, of all people, when I got out. I started feeling something that first night. I had no idea what it was at first. A fluttering in the stomach. I didn't realize I was falling in love until I woke up in the hospital with you watching over me. That has never happened before and I knew it must be love, or something like it. Close enough for me, anyway."  
  
"Severus approached me shortly after that about the Taipan. Gave me until September the first to think it over. Today. And I'd decided to join them. Until you asked me for that headache cure, that is. When I got in front of them I had doubts. Amethyst changed my mind." he said.  
  
"Amethyst?" Harry said. That was the last name he'd expected to hear.  
  
Draco nodded. "She told me a little about her and Severus. How they would have shunned them, or worse, for their relationship. About her reaction to him when he showed her the Dark Mark."  
  
Harry nodded. He'd heard this before, when he'd first met Amethyst. "How she loved him regardless of what he was." he said.  
  
"Yup." Draco said. "She told me to come back here and tell you that I had joined the Taipan. She knows, Potter. She knows about us. I don't know how, but she's guessed."  
  
"Amethyst is sharp." Harry said. "I'm not surprised."  
  
"She doesn't care if were guys. And I don't think Severus will either. They won't tell anyone about us. Not out of loyalty, but because it's none of their business." Draco said, sounding both impressed and relieved.  
  
Draco ran his finger along Harry's jaw line. "Well, that's that." He said. "Time for you to throw me out of your bed and tell me to get the hell out of your life." He actually looked expectant.  
  
What Harry did was kiss him. "You leave this bed before dawn and I'll curse you into about a million pieces." he said, smiling.  
  
Draco did not leave the bed. They made love through the rest of the night and did not rest until dawn. 


	8. Chapter Eight: The Dark Knights

Chapter Eight: The Dark Knights  
  
  
Harry stood in the cold mausoleum. The place was packed. Ron had been very popular. Hermione was conspicuous in her absence. She'd gone into labor when she was told what happened. The boy she gave birth to looked just like his father.  
  
Harry glanced at the stunned and wooden faces. The Weasleys, all of them, looked shocked. Christmas would never be the same for them, Harry thought. The wizard conducting the funeral service finally shut the hell up and people began to file out of the mausoleum.  
  
Harry stood with Sirius and Christopher in the snow. Sirius still looked like he'd been stunned. Nearby, Harry saw Draco, Severus and Amethyst. They looked expressionless, as they almost always did in public, but Harry knew that they were just as upset as everyone else.  
  
Molly Weasley stopped as she walked past them. She stopped and looked between Harry and Sirius. "You were supposed to help him." She said in a dead sort of voice. She looked directly into Harry's eyes. "You killed my son!" she hissed and slapped him hard across the face. Harry's head flew to the right, but he kept to his feet. Arthur Weasley just looked at Harry stonily as he led his wife away. Ginney was crying and did not appear to see anyone as she passed them. Charley and Percy passed them without looking at them. Fred, George and Bill also passed, but looked at them with something close to understanding.  
  
Ablus Dumbledore stood off by himself. Harry caught the message in his eyes before Dumbledore simply disappeared into thin air.  
  
Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Let's go." he said, quietly.  
  
They left.  
  
  
  
They met again that night, in Severus and Amethysts library. Severus and Amethyst bookended the fireplace, their arms folded over their chests. Sirius paced. Draco stood by the window, looking out at the increasing ferocity of the blizzard. Dumbledore sat at Severus desk, watching them.  
  
"Tell me what happened again." Dumbledore said, sadly.  
  
"He recieved an owl ten days ago, just before nine o'clock." Sirius said, obviously tired of repeating the story. "I didn't see what it said. He pocketed it and told me he had something he needed to take care of and he'd be back about lunchtime. I didn't see him again until Draco and Harry found him."  
  
"He was hit with the Verbera Curse, the Quazzo Curse, the Cruciatus Curse and the Abrumpto Curse." Severus said. "They put him in a world of hurt before they dumped him in front of the warehouse."  
  
"No Dark Mark was cast." Dumbledore asked. He was looking very pensive.  
  
"No." Severus said.  
  
Draco turned from the window. Robes and a cloak were draped over his arms. He walked to the desk and laid them on it. He fumbled in a pocket of the robes a moment before finding it. He held the piece of parchment out for Dumbledore. Dumbledore read from it:  
  
  
  
They are neither gone nor forgotten. They have a new Lord and Perosus demands the blood of his adopted enemy, Harry Potter. If you want to save your friend, be in Hyde Park this morning by nine. Tell no one or Harry Potter will be worse than dead.  
  
JJ - The Dark Knights  
  
  
"You found this with his body?" Dumbledore was looking intensely at Draco now.  
  
"Yes. I took his cloak and cape off of him before I took him inside. He died there. His wand was missing." Draco said, woodenly.  
  
Severus moved to Draco's side and held his hand out for the note. Dumbledore gave it to him and he read it several times. "Who else has handled this, Draco?" he asked, not looking at him.  
  
"You, Dumbledore, me and Ron. Before that, I don't know." Draco said.  
  
Severus laid the parchment on the desk and pulled out his wand. "Contrecto." he said.  
  
Nothing happened. Severus frowned down at the parchment. Amethyst joined him and together they touched their wands to the paper. "Contrecto."  
  
A feeble shadow lifted from the parchment and then fell, as if exhausted back into the parchment.  
  
"Albus." Severus said. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and touched it to the parchment.  
  
"Contrecto." Severus, Amethysts and Dumbledore's voices were one.  
  
A low light came from the paper. Sirius stopped pacing and joined the others at the desk. A shadow rose from the paper and floated above it. It was a shadowy Severus, holding the parchment, which faded after about thirty seconds. Then a second shadow began to rise. Dumbledore. Then Draco. Ron. An owl.  
  
"Come now." Severus mumbled, under his breath.  
  
The shadows of a man and a woman rose from the parchment. They seemed to be leaning over it, a quill in the mans hand. The both looked up for a moment and their faces became clear.  
  
"Congelo" Amethyst said quickly, and the shadow did not fade, like the others, but remained frozen.  
  
The sound of a door closing brought them back to the attention. Christopher was walking in. He watched them watching him and said. "I know I'm late, but -" and he stopped and stared at the gap between Draco and Severus.  
  
"Jarod and Jade Packer." He breathed.  
  
"Quite right, Mister Starling." Dumbledore said.  
  
Draco and Amethyst were the only ones looking lost. Dumbledore explained. "Jarod and Jade were students at Hogwarts. They are after your time, Amethyst but before Draco's time."  
  
"They were troublemakers." Snape hissed.  
  
"Slytherins?" Draco assumed.  
  
"Actually, Jarod was a Ravenclaw and Jade was a Hufflepuff." Dumbledore said, a slight smile on his face. "Not the first set of twins to wind up in different houses."  
  
"They never became Death Eaters, though I would have bet everything that they were simply unmarked supporters." Snape said.  
  
"So they wrote this note." Draco said, snarling.  
  
"Yes." Snape said. "It would appear that the children of the Death Eaters have joined together with this Perosus to form the Dark Knights."  
  
"And I must charge the Taipan with dealing with them." Dumbledore said. He looked at them all in turn. "The death of Ron Weasley is a tragic thing, but it will become a mere trifle if we cannot stop the Dark Knights before they strike again." He looked at Sirius and Christopher. "You two find Jarod and Jade and see if you can discover what they are up to. Do nothing right now. Christopher, you had best make the initial contact." Christopher nodded and he and Sirius left.  
  
"Draco," Dumbledore said, "You watch Harry. Don't let him do anything rash. Talk to him and see if he is in any condition to be of any assistance."  
  
Draco nodded, turned on his heel and left.  
  
"You two begin preparations," and here Dumbledore paused. "Just in case."   
  
The Snapes nodded. The left the room for other parts of their home. Dumbledore remained at the desk, wondering at the future.  
  
  
  
"So where the hell were you?" Sirius asked, giving Christopher a sidelong glance.  
  
"I was otherwise occupied." Christopher said, glaring out the window of the 1960 Jaguar E-Type.  
  
"Otherwise occupied." Sirius repeated. He was accelerating down the deserted road. "With whom?"  
  
"Are you asking me if I was with Taja?" Christopher asked. "I was, but not the way I'd have preferred."  
  
Sirius took a corner fast enough to fishtail. "Really?" he said, mildly. "So you are telling me that you have never slept with Taja?"  
  
Christopher glanced at Sirius. "Oh, I'm not telling you anything of the sort." he said. "I am telling you that I have not come from her bed this time."  
  
Sirius took his eyes off of the road and stared at Christopher. He was going 200 km/h and amazed Christopher by not getting them killed.  
  
"Do you mind?" Christopher said, trying to keep the shaking from his voice.  
  
Sirius grinned and put his eyes back on the road. "Never mind Taja right now." he said. "Let's talk about Jarod and Jade."  
  
"Jarod is a nasty son-of-a-bitch." Christopher said. "For that, so is Jade. But Jade," and here he paused. "Jade is the more dangerous." he finished after some consideration.  
  
"You were lovers." Sirius half asked.  
  
Christopher sighed. "Off and on for the last ten years." he said. "More off than on since the fall of the Dark Lord."  
  
"Why?" Sirius asked. "And will it keep you from contacting her?" He'd slowed the Jaguar to a more manageable speed, and noticed Christopher visibly relax.  
  
"No, she likes what I have to offer her." Christopher said. "But she isn't much into sharing, so I suppose that leaves you stuck with Jarod."  
  
"Maybe," Sirius said, a half smile on his lips. "Does she like dogs?"  
  
  
  
Harry stopped his pacing when Draco came in the door. He looked at the contrast of the snow on the black hood of the cloak and the pale face and hair inside the hood and his heart skipped.  
  
"Well?" Harry asked. "Who did it? Who killed Ron?"  
  
Draco took off his cloak off and threw it over one of the oversized chairs in their living room. He bit his lower lip a moment before he said. "I'm not going to tell you right now." he said, carefully.  
  
Harry's jaw dropped. "Why not?" he demanded.  
  
"Because the Taipan doesn't need you flying off the handle, that's why." Draco said, "Ron was your best friend. You're a little too close to this. You need to separate yourself if your going to help us on this."  
  
Harry stared at Draco. Draco's calm could be contagious, and Harry allowed the calm, drawling voice to wash over him. Harry took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. He replaced his glasses and just stood still, looking at Draco.  
  
Draco walked over to Harry and kissed him gently. "There are things we need to do before anything else. You probably won't like some of them. Might not like any of them, actually, but you're going to have to trust me, Potter."  
  
Harry looked into the grey eyes and nodded. "Whatever you need to do."  
  
Draco ran his fingers through Harry's untidy hair. "Come with me." he said and walked past Harry into their bedroom (they'd decided long ago to share a single bed instead of flitting across the hall to each others room). He motioned tot he bed and Harry lay down.  
  
Draco left the room and Harry listened to him preparing something in his workroom. A tinkling of bottles. The thud of the pestle in the mortar. Draco returned with a glass of water which was tinted blue.  
  
"Drink it. It'll help you sleep."  
  
Harry looked up at him.   
  
"What I need to do would hurt you a great deal if I allowed you to just sleep naturally. I don't want to cause you pain, Potter. You know that."  
  
Harry drank the light blue liquid down in a few swallows an immediately felt his eyes get heavy. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of his lovers lips on his and a whispered. "Goodbye." 


End file.
